Ideas & Issues

This 1996 article from Christianity Today discusses the growing concern among evangelicals for environmental issues and the importance of being stewards of Creation. It features an interview with Calvin DeWitt of the AuSable Institute, and one of the foremost environmental voices in the evangelical community. DeWitt discusses the history of environmentalism in the church today and where its going. The article also discusses the views of conservative voices within the church who feel that environmentalists overstate their case. Those interviewed were drawn exclusively from Religious Right circles that outwardly profess "concern" for Creation in some vague doctrinal sense, but otherwise have opposed virtually every proven environmental protection policy in existence. Unfortunately, the article does quote a few of these "authorities" uncritically, despite the fact that virtually without exception their arguments are based on easily refutable pseudoscience and/or ideology. A few of the most egregious myths (particularly in regards to global warming and the Endangered Species Act) are repeated without further comment regarding the abysmally poor scholarship they're based on - which in most cases would not even meet high school standards, much less those of scientific peer-review. Even so, the article does do justice to the larger trends within the church, and does highlight the fact that the opposition of the Religious Right to environmentalism is based largely on a fundamental disdain for science which unless checked, will have disastrous consequences for the evangelical community's credibility. In the end, we should be caring for the Earth simply because God cares about it and ultimately what is good for it is good for us, regardless of whether it is in crisis or not. There is a Biblical basis for caring about it and we cannot afford to let worldly agendas divert attention from this - particularly those of the Religious Right that are on a collision course with science on so many fronts.

This article from the Greek Orthodox Diocese of America discusses environmental issues facing the church today and how Christians should be, and are responding to them. Palmer is an environmental educationalist, and director of the UK-based International Consultancy on Religion, Education and Culture (ICOREC) .

The Science, Religion, and Technology Project (SRT) is a project of the Church of Scotland working ecumenically with Action of Churches Together in Scotland and with the support of the Scottish Episcopal, United Reformed and United Free Churches. It was formed to clarify the church’s response to a wide range of technological and environmental issues in a changing world. This is their Environment page covering numerous environmental issues, impacts, and what the church can be, and is doing to responsibly address them.